Battle of the Books

Dani participated in Battle of the Books again this year. The kids are asked to read 12 different books and then answer questions about what they remember about the book. It such a great program to promote reading. I love this program and find myself reading the same books right along with Dani. Those books that I didn't read, I plan to in the future. A couple of Dani's friends made it to the district finals along with her cousin from another school. Can you image how many kids in the school district read and studied these 12 books? That's the power of Battle of the Books program.

Here is Dani's team and Maybree's team along with Mrs. Lenz after the last competition. It was neat to sit with the students from their school and hear the "wow" and "awesome" comments from the students listening to the competition. I wonder how many of those students will participate next year. Congrats to the students who participated in this great program!

Here is a list of the books that the students ready during the 2009-2010 year:

• Riding Freedom by Pam Munoz Ryan
• Poppy by Avi
• The Watsons go to Birmingham - 1963 by Christopher Paul Curtis
• Chasing Vermeer by Blue Balliett
• Jeremy Thatcher, Dragon Hatcher by Bruce Coville
• My Side of the Mountain by Jean Craighead George
• Running Out of Time by Margaret Peterson Haddix
• Rules by Cynthia Lord
• Because of Winn Dixie by Kate DiCamillo
• Earthquake Terror by Peg Kehret
• Manic Magee by Jerry Spinelli
• The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau

Memorable MondaySymphony

Jim and Josh went to a concert at the Ikea Theater with some members of the Taylor Band. The Symphony of the Southwest were performing and Mr. Q encouraged the band students to attend. Josh loved the concert and I'm so glad that he had this opportunity.

I remember when I was in school and going on a field trip to Hillcrest to see the symphony. I really enjoyed the symphony and was thrilled to be there. I'm not sure everyone felt that way. I also remember going to the symphony hall in SLC and hearing them perform there. I loved listening to the symphony and should go again soon.

School Carnival

Our elementary school has had a carnival every year for the past 3 years. Our family went to the carnival again this year and had a great time. Since Josh and Dani were busy, Jim and I were able to spend some quality time with Angela and Emily. It's such a great community and school event and my family had a great time. Josh helped again with the scouts run the rides this year. It was his job to make sure that each child had a wrist band on or gave him a ticket. The scouts helped run the rides for several hours and then were able to play for 30 minutes on the rides. The school even provided the scouts with pizza and all the water they needed. It was great community service that the scouts provided.

I brought Dani and a couple of her friends to the carnival and hardly saw them for the rest of the evening. When I caught up with her, I had to take a picture just to prove that she was there with us. Dani and her group of friends just hung out together until the last 20 minutes and then played on the rides, I bought her a wrist band, so I was happy to see her play for just a few minutes.

Angela and Emily had a great time playing on the rides, saying hello to their friends, and enjoying their snow cone. It was a cold windy evening, just the right time for a snow cone. The girls were ready to home after a few hours. YEAH!

Memorable Monday BYC Mtgs.

Josh is the Deacon's Quorum president and part of his responsibilities is to attend BYC - Bishop Youth Council. I looked back at the times when I attended BYC when I was in YW. When I was 15 years old, I was called to be the BYC secretary. I was to take notes during these meetings and share the minutes before the next meeting began. When I turned 16, the Laurel president didn't show up at the meeting and I told the members of the BYC what the Laurels were planning on doing. A few months later, I was called to be the Laurel President and served two differnt positions at BYC.

First Day of Spring

Today is the first day of Spring and I looked back on the wet and windy winter that we had this year. We had one rainstorm, or several in a couple of days that filled up the retention basins in the neighborhood. There was a lot of water which is always a welcome sight in AZ. Whenever it rains, the kids run outside to watch and play in the rain while I snap pics. There is so much water in this retention basin. This is a nice hill to go ice-blocking in the summer, but now is full of water. There were reports that people were canoeing in this newly formed lake.


Dani and I took turns taking each other's picture. If you look closely, you can see the trees in the lake and the water goes almost to the branches. While taking the picture, the wind started picking up and we were freezing.

This picture was taken a week after the storm. The water receded a tad bit, but there is still a lot of water. This is a different hill than the one pictured above.

These last two pictures were taken at the local schools. There was so much water on the fields and I couldn't resist taking the pics.

It's so awesome that we had so much water this past winter.

Canoeing at Saguaro Lake

Mitchell and his dad invited Jim and Josh to go canoeing at Saguaro Lake. They camped on an island that is only accessible through canoeing. The boys borrowed a canoe from the stake and were off on their adventure. It was a fun outing except for when some guys swamped Jim and Bro. McKay. I love the great pics that they took.

Dani's Birthday Party

Dani had her 12th birthday party this year - a pajama party. She planned out the whole party herself and the girls had a great time. The girls made flowers and pillow cases, both of which showed off the girl's creativity. The girls also played some great and creative games. I really enjoyed watching the girls just being silly.

Happy Birthday Dani!

15th Wedding Anniversary

Today is our 15th Wedding Anniversary. I woke this morning with a great e-mail message from my husband. He thought of 15 things that he loves/admires about me. It was so sweet and a great surprise. Thanks Jim! I love you!

1. I love how you raise and teach our kids with love and patience.


2. I appreciate how you do stuff around the house without complaining.


3. I love your early morning kisses as I go off to work.


4. I enjoy watching movies with you, especially the 970 episodes of LOST.


5. I admire how you can keep everything planed out in your head.


6. I admire how you stick to your diet, even when it's hard.


7. I admire your tenacity in helping the kids with their homework.


8. I appreciate your sacrifice in postponing your education for the kids.


9. I appreciate you making dinner.


10. I like reading your journal/blog and am grateful for the memories.


11. I admire your dedication to your calling. You are a great example.


12. I'm glad we both like to go camping and enjoy camping with you.


13. I enjoy going on trips with you and enjoy the time spent together while driving.


14. I appreciate your willingness postpone things when I need attention.


15. I admire your example of love and dedication to your extended family.

Memorable Monday My Family

This past weekend, I've spent some great time with my brothers, sisters, and parents. All 5 of the Wall children had lunch with my parents one day while she was still in the hospital. It was great to have all of us together again. My mom was overwhelmed by the love that we all share for her and she expressed her love for each of us. It was very heartfelt moment for all of us. It's hard to put into words the feelings that were shared that day, but our hearts will remember.

I love taking pictures of my siblings and I whenever we are together and take them often, maybe a little to often. It so fun to look back on our younger days when we still lived in Utah. Some of these pictures are not the best of me, but I want my kiddos to see that I was their age too.

Golfing

Jeff and Steve flew down to AZ to spend some time with my mom. Their visit was so good for my mom and dad. It was so awesome to see them! Jeff and Steve took advantage of the great weather and went golfing twice. The first time they went golfing, it was just Jim, Steve, Jeff, and Travis. It was nice for the guys to get away and golf. The second time, Randy and the younger boys joined them. Josh really liked golfing but mentioned later on that his feet hurt. I'm glad that the boys had a great time. That night, my siblings and I went out for a small dinner. It was so awesome to spend time with my brothers and their visit did wonders for the whole Wall family. Thanks guys!

My siblings and I

Field Trip to the Farm

Emily went on a field trip with her preschool class to see a working dairy farm. They took a hay ride around the farm to see the cows while learning more about them. After the hay ride, the class were able to pet some of the animals on the farm. Each student was able to feed some goats and a horse. It was a great field trip and Emily had a lot of fun with her classmates.

Dani turns 12

Dani had a birthday - shout Hooray!
We want to celebrate with her today.
She is one year older and wiser, too.
Happy Birthday to Dani!


12 Things about Dani

1. Dani loves to make flowers to place in your hair. It's so fun to see the crafty side of Dani.
2. Dani loves to make movies with my camera and is learning to edit them on the computer.
3. Dani loves the TV show Psych and Doctor Who.
4. Dani loves to play games, especially Charades.
5. Dani loves to write stories. She types them on the computer and hand writes them too.
6. Dani loves to read books. She often curls up with a good book before bedtime.
7. Dani is so excited to be in the YW program and has already memorized the YW theme.
8. Dani loves to choreograph dances for her younger sisters to perform.
9. Dani loves to shop for shoes. I don't think she can have enough pairs.
10. Dani loves to plan parties. I thinks she could be a Party Planner when she grows up.
11. Dani loves good food and is willing to try new things which is makes it fun to take her out to eat or cook with her.
12. Dani loves to chat with her friends; either in person, on the phone, or online. She's a social gal and makes friends easily.

Memorable MondayPersonal Progress

One of Dani's YW leaders came to visit with Dani and I with an introduction her to the Personal Progress program. I needed an introduction to because it's completely different than the personal program I did as a youth. As a parent, I can earn the Personal Progress alongside my daughter, which is awesome since it's a different program.

I dug up my Personal Progress book and noticed the the date it was published was in 1975. I did some research and realized that it was the first Personal Progress Program designed for the young women. I earned my Young Women Recognition in 1986 with this program. It was fun to look at my Personal Progress book and remember when I made those goals. I remember meeting with my young women leaders and we discussed and signed off on the goals that I made. It was fun to look back and reflect on the times that I spent in Young Women's program. There is a letter from my Bishop that he wrote when I was a laurel. It's awesome to read his testimony years later. My personal Progress had 6 areas of focus instead of the values that the girls know today.

Cavalcade

Dani has been working for a couple of months with the two pieces that she will play during Cavalcade. Cavalcade gives the piano students an opportunity to follow a director and play as a group. She had to learn and memorize a couple of Disney songs - "Siamese Cats" and the "Lion Sleeps Tonight". Dani had the same partner as she did last year. These two girls practice hard and knew their pieces very well - Good for them!

After the main Calvacade practice we were able to meet Jon Schmidt and have him autograph a CD that we bought. We really enjoy his music and it's played often in our home. Jim and Dani attended his concert in December and really enjoyed it. During Calvacade, he performed three numbers, including my fav - "Love Song" with "Viva la Vida". He added his personality to the show complete with his jokes. He is an amazing pianist and hopefully inspired my kids to keep playing the piano.

Photos Taken by Girls

The girls took pictures of each other in the back yard. When I downloaded the pictures from the computer to the printer, I was pleasantly surprised to see cute pics of my girls. The photographers were Dani, Angela, and Emily. These are great pics and I love them. Thanks girls!